RISING STAR RACING ST. PETERSBURG RACE REPORT

JOSEF NEWGARDEN
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG
TEAM: ED CARPENTER RACING
STARTED: 11TH
FINISHED: 22ND
“We didn’t have the start we wanted. We were playing the catch up game right from the beginning, but I felt confident in what we could do to catch up and make a good day out of it. Instead, we ran into an electrical glitch and it ended up putting us out for the day. It’s a shame because we brought a first class effort with the Fuzzy’s crew, but it just wasn’t our day. You’re going to have bumps in the road and this was one of those bumps. We just have to minimize how many of these we have a year. Now we have to bounce back and focus on Phoenix.”

SPENCER PIGOT
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG
TEAM: RLL RACING
STARTED: 21ST
FINISHED: 14TH
“It was an eventful race, and it had a little bit of everything in it. We’ve been working on the car and some things that I needed to work on over the weekend. I think they all came together in the race and I’m proud of that. There were a few rookie mistakes from me and getting caught up in a few on-track incidents didn’t help us though. I’m happy to get the first race out of the way though, and also really pleased with our pace. I definitely learned a lot and can’t wait to get another shot.”

NEIL ALBERICO
INDY LIGHTS PRESENTED BY COOPER TIRES
STREETS OF ST. PETERSBURG
TEAM: CARLIN
RACE 1 FINISH: 12TH
RACE 2 FINISH: 15TH
“I was able to make up a few places on the start of Race 1, but it’s tough to pass on a street circuit and it just highlights how important qualifying on a track like this is. For Race 2 we weren’t far off a top-10 finish, but unfortunately I made a mistake and had an incident with another car. This has been a really solid weekend of learning though, and the good news is that we have a really short wait until we’re back in action at Phoenix. I’m glad to get back to racing and I think there is a lot of opportunity for me to grow with Carlin.”